Do be careful with travel insurance

[Gismocat]

Im overly cautious with taking out a policy after all the problems people come faced with however it is very easy to miss things.
I took out a travel insurance policy with Primary Insurance for my september holiday a few months ago. My grandad was taken into hospital at the weekend and is now intensive care so I called them just to inform them and would you believe that if we did need to cancel the holiday then they dont class a grandparent as a relative yet a common-law partner or sister-in-law is!
Something not too easy to overlook and I did. It now means that I would not be covered if we had to return from the holiday early and I dont know whether I will now be covered if I take out another insurance policy?
The other concern I have is that they would class it as a pre-existing condition. My grandad went in for an operation which was successful and he was fine however a couple of days later his kidneys have stopped working yet they believe it is temporary however he does have chronic kidney failure anyway but that is literally what happens due to old age. Could they link it this way and refuse to pay anyway?

[girlynutnut]

Gismocat, sorry to hear your grandad's not well. I'm not familiar with the Primary Insurance travel policy so can only give you general advice, as a travel claims manager for Norwich Union.

The policy booklet should define close relatives. You should be covered if you have to cancel or abandon a holiday because any of these "close relatives" get sick. Check your wording - I'm surprised a grandparent isn't on there!

As far as pre-exisitng medical conditions are concerned, you need to make sure you disclose ANY serious, chronic or recurring sickness, injury or disease of any relative, business associate or person upon whose good health your trip depends. You must disclose these conditions when you take out your policy or book your trip (which ever is later).

So if you take out a new policy now (and for any future holidays), you'll need to tell them about your grandfather's recent hospital admission. They might agree to insure it or they might not (it all depends how serious his condition is, often a points scoring type system is used) but at least you'll know one way or the other.

Primary should only consider this a pre-exisitng condition if your grandad had a history of it when you booked your hol / bought their insurance. If this is the case and you didn't disclose it, they could refuse your claim. If he had no relevant history when you booked / purchased insurance, then they're likely to offer you Cancellation cover if you choose not to go but nothing else e.g. won't pay to get you home if something happens to him whilst you're away.

I hope that makes sense. PM me if you need any more advice. I hope your grandad gets better soon.

Gail

[Gismocat]

thanks for that - to be honest if all had been well with him I wouldnt even have thought about informing them that he had kidney problems..you always think that pre-existing conditions only relate to you as the policy holder? Otherwise where does it stop - do I need to inform them that one of my brother in laws had a heart attack 2 years ago and that the other had open heart surgery last year? My trip doesnt depend on any of them but of course if anything went wrong we would want to return as we have such a close family.

Im sure Im not the only one in this position that has never considered it?

Oh and no they do not include grandparents anyway as relatives - do you know why this would be? It cant be an age issue as the age of the relative is dependant on the age of the policy holder?

[girlynutnut]

One of the most common issues we have is failure to disclose relatives previous medical conditions. Anything that could be considered serious, chronic or recurring should be disclosed, regardless of whether they're currently stable. So in answer to your question - yes, you should tell them about your BILs' heart attack and heart surgery. The fact that you'd cancel or abandon your hols if anything happened to them means that your trip does depend on their good health.

You need to check the General / Medical Warranty in your policy booklet to see what your obligations re. disclosure are.

As far as not including grandparents in the definition of close relative, I really don't know. I'd imagine it could be that grandparents are more susceptible to becoming ill, so they're simply avoiding that risk. Seems a bit unreasonable to me but if it's in their policy wording they're allowed to rely on it.

[rincewindrunnin]

Sadly over the last 7 yrs there has been a growing emphasis on underwriters wanting to know about pre existing conditions regarding anyone who could impact on a claim.

Depending on when the policy was bought, you may be entitled to a refund of the policy wihtout making a claim and then you can buy a policy where grandparents are covered and make the appropriate declarations.

You wouldnt have to declare a family member that is not covered by the policy as it would not make any difference to any claim.

Unfortunately the big underwriters have forced some of the smaller companies out of the market who were much more person-centred and focussed on 'doing the right thing' by customers rather than rigidly sticking to policy wordings. No flexibility or human touch is shown anymore.

[CrispDust]

Expecting grandchildren to list their grandparents ills and ailments for travel insurance is wholly unrealistic and unacceptable. I have no grandparents but if I did then I wouldn't be party to all their problems. Also my policies should be cheaper since I am a lower risk! But they are not.
Insurance companies take a risk - end of story. If they don't want that risk they don't have to accept the client! And vice versa.

[gizmo111]

I have never listed my family's medical history and have claimed twice when I have had to cancel a holiday.
Each policy will define who they will allow you to claim for if the holiday is cancelled, possibly the range of relatives would be smaller at the economy end of the insurance market.
I beleive it is at the point that the claim is made the questions regarding pre- exisiting conditions are asked of the GP of the unwell person.
Questions on pre-exisiting conditions are asked at the time the policy is taken out only of the person/s who are travelling.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

You only have to declare it if you know about it.
You have no obligation to inquire about your relatives health when taking out travel insurance.

[Harpdak66]

I agree with Bernie.
Just to add, if you do have a pre-existing medical condition, it's worth reading this article:

???

It also lists some companies that specialise in travel insurance for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

(Edit: it won't let me post a link...)

[Harpdak66]

Fixed it. Here you go.

If you do have a pre-existing medical condition, it's worth reading this article:

Travel Insurance Insider: Travel Medical Insurance

[LemonTwist]

This is quite unusual - most travel policies do define a grandparent as a relative (although not great-grandparents). I'd suggest checking your policy wording - does it say grandparent under relatives in the Definitions section?

[Bookworm]

Thread's one year old, LT.